All for one

Commons and market serve the greater good

By Jennifer Pfaff

Like the prow of a ship slicing through unknown waters, the Prospect Medical Commons and Whole Foods Market building along Milwaukee's lakefront is navigating its way to a new system of delivering health care.

The building is part of Columbia St. Mary's broader effort to consolidate services into one campus, a maneuver expected to save $19 million to $20 million a year by eliminating duplicate services, said Leo Brideau, president and chief executive officer of Columbia St. Mary's.

The dual-purpose building is crafted in a new-urban style with a pedestrian-friendly ground floor that houses organic food purveyor Whole Foods and a four-story medical office building above.

The glass and brick structure maximizes the lake view and complements an irregularly shaped lot with its protruding, sharply angled glass front. Glass-curtain walls come to a razor-thin point, creating the ship-like imagery, said Mikelis Abuls, executive vice president of Prospect Medical Commons construction manager CG Schmidt.

"One of the interesting things is that the building was designed around Columbia St. Mary's desire to have a high level of patient care," Abuls said. "The way the parking ramp aligns with the building, there are basically individual lobbies on each floor at the entrance to the parking ramp."

	Project Names: Prospect Medical Commons and Whole Foods Market Location: Milwaukee Submitting Companies: Bukacek Construction, Racine, Whole Foods Market; CG Schmidt Inc., Milwaukee, Prospect Medical Commons; von Briesen & Roper SC, Milwaukee, Prospect Medical Commons General Contractor/Construction Manager: Bukacek Construction, Whole Foods Market's general contractor; CG Schmidt Inc., Prospect Medical Commons' construction manager Project Leaders: Mikelis Abuls, CG Schmidt's executive vice president and COO; Leo Brideau, president and CEO of Columbia St. Mary's Inc.; Steve Gilbert, CG Schmidt's project manager; Gregg Thompson, Bukacek's CEO Architects: Hellmuth, Obata, Kassabaum Inc., St. Louis, Prospect Medical Commons' architect; Timothy F. Stewart, Downers Grove, Ill., Whole Foods Market's architect Engineers: Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer and Associates Inc., Milwaukee, Prospect Medical Commons' engineer; Melvin Cohen & Associates Inc., Chicago, Whole Foods Market's engineer Owners: Columbia St. Mary's Inc., Milwaukee, Prospect Medical Commons' owner; Whole Foods Market, Chicago Project Costs: $39 million for Prospect Medical Commons; $5.14 million for Whole Foods Market Project Sizes: 96,000 square feet for Prospect Medical Commons; 54,000 square feet for Whole Foods Market Start Dates: May 2005 for Prospect Medical Commons; April 2006 for Whole Foods Market Completion Dates: September 2006 for Whole Foods Market; December 2006 for Prospect Medical Commons

Prospect Medical Commons will bring under one roof about 70 physicians previously scattered throughout the state. Brideau said the city and hospital wanted to make sure the new building offered retail on the first floor for those people and the community.

"We really wanted something that would benefit our patients, our employees," he said. "In my opinion, there's no one who can hold a candle to what Whole Foods can do."

Whole Foods wanted to make its entry in the Milwaukee market a grand one, and, with that in mind, the new store differs from its cousin in Madison.

"It's unlike any grocery store you've ever been in," said Gregg Thompson, chief executive officer of Whole Foods general contractor Bukacek Construction. "There are also [five] dining venues within the store. You can stop at the Eastside Grill, sit and have a beer while watching a game on the flat screen TV. Or you can stop by the taqueria or the rice and sushi area.

"There's a wood-burning pizza oven and in-house smoking of meats, and they also have an area where you can sample wines. The building inspector referred to this as the largest bar and restaurant in Milwaukee."

Bukacek professionals flew to Colorado to tour Whole Foods stores there to better understand the work they were about to take on.

"Since it is such a different store, it was good to see one completed, how it all fits together, especially the dining areas," Thompson said.